The mines of Saint-Éloy-les-Mines are

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mines located in the town of

Saint-Éloy-les-Mines Saint-Éloy-les-Mines (; Auvergnat dialect, Auvergnat: ''Sant Alòi de las Minas'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Puy-de-Dôme Departments of France, department in Auvergne (region), Auvergne in central France. Geography The river Boubl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and environs. They were constructed in the 18th century during the beginning of industrialization in Combraille, which included: * the glass industry at Montel-de-Gelat; * the coal mines of Vernade (Saint-Éloy) and The Peize (Gutters) * the silver-lead of mines Roignon ( Youx) and Mas Boutin (Saint Eloy). Eighteenth-century France saw the beginnings of industrialization across the entire kingdom. It was also a time when landowners, especially noblemen, were trying to apply

physiocratic Physiocracy (; from the Greek for "government of nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th-century Age of Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations derived solely from the value of "land agricultur ...

ideas to change their way of cultivating the soil and making crop rotations by introducing, for example, the cultivation of potatoes and artificial grasslands. Other nobles and wealthy citizens were also trying, sometimes unsuccessfully, to develop new industries, such as farm ores. Some entrepreneurs foresaw the changes that were going to evolve in the 19th century and worked to take advantage of the country's abundance of natural resources.

The Coal Mines of La Vernade (Saint-Eloy) and La Peize (Gouttieres)

The coal mine of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

was already a source of great wealth in the region, owing to the relative ease by which coal could be shipped to

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Val de Loire and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

by the

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

since the opening of the

Briare Canal The Briare Canal (french: Canal de Briare, ) is one of the oldest canals in France. Its construction started in 1604. It was the first summit level canal in Europe that was built using pound locks, connecting the Rhone-Saône and Seine valleys. ...

, in spite of delays caused by poor quality and by transportation difficulties which arose from time to time. Aside from the power of few

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s of the country, which just had a rare iron to work, the only outlet was the

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...

s in the region of

Ébreuil Ébreuil (; Auvergnat dialect, Auvergnat: ''Esbreule'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Allier Departments of France, department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Allier department References

Commune ...

, and the tiles and pottery from the parish of La Pérouze ( Gouttieres). The route was rather difficult, first requiring a climb on the “Plateau des Chevaliers et des Berthons” before going down to the upper valley of Gourdonne. The route then traveled back up to

Lachamp Lachamp (; oc, La Chalm) is a former commune in the Lozère department in southern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Lachamp-Ribennes.Sioule The Sioule (; oc, Siula) is a long river in central France, a left tributary of the river Allier. Its source is near the village of Orcival, north of Mont-Dore, in the Massif Central. The Sioule has cut a deep gorge, especially in its upper cou ...

and the Cèpe. But, despite the relative ease of this wide pathway, if we compare it with the three large routes through the valley of the Sioule: by the bridge of the Bouchet, Châteauneuf and the bridge of

Menat In ancient Egyptian religion, a menat ( egy, mnj.t, ar, منات) was a type of artefact closely associated with the goddess Hathor. Operation The menat was held in the hand by its counterpoise and used as a rattle by Hathor's priestesses. It ...

, the use horse-drawn carriage was possible, (rather than ox-drawn carriage which is slower and susceptible to fast deterioration), but it’s more or less obvious that pack horses were used to supply surroundings blacksmiths.

The New Mine

During the second half of the 19th century, new deeper mine shafts were opened: mine shafts named Tollin, Laval, Montjoie, Peyroux, the Croizette, Chazal, Michelin Mercier, and Beaudot. The syndicate benefits of the permission to have at their disposal the coal coming from the search in 1897 and asks a concession, which one is opposed the company of Châtillon-Commentry.

Working conditions

In 1884, the exhausting and enslaving nature of miner’s work was brought to national attention by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

in his novel '' Germinal'' where he regarded it as an "impoverishment of the human condition". It was also at this time that Carmaux led strikes from 1892-1895 in Tarn’s coalfield, xxx. He later became a prominent

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

symbol by acting as the region’s congressman. Numerous movements were initiated by the syndicates at the Saint-Eloy-Les Mines since the end of the Nineteenth Century, with Gilbert Conchon as a minor delegate. He went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for a congress, with others delegation, in collaboration with the movements of English coalfield.

References

* a, b, c et d Revue d'Auvergne, 72 n° 4, Entreprises industrielles en Combraille au XVIIIe siècle, de J. Semonsous, n° 388 de la collection de la Société des amis de l'Université de Clermont. * Archives départementales du Puy-de Dôme, série C liasse 577. * Archives départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse C, 6966, p.n.c. * Archives départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse C, 6953, p.n.c. * a, b, c et d Archives départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse C, 6970, p.n.c. * a, b, c, d et e Archives départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse L, 4913, p.n.c. * Revue d'Auvergne, 69 (n° 1-2 de 1955). Excursions dans les gorges de la Sioule, des Fades à Ébreuil, de J.Semonsous". * Archives Départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse C, 6953, p.n.c. * Archives Départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse C, 6379, p.n.c. * Archives Départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, liasse L, 6002, registre. * a, b et c La Pieuvre Eloysienne de René Gravier. {{coord missing, France Mines in France Buildings and structures in Puy-de-Dôme